This season, just two of the five Prince George public high schools will have football teams.
That means aspiring football players at the varsity and junior levels who attend Prince George Secondary School, D.P. Todd and Duchess Park won’t have teams to play for this fall.
But there’s hope in sight for the affected players. The Prince George Kodiaks junior football program has decided to intervene and is organizing community-based programs to give those athletes a chance to play.
"We want to ensure that any player at any age has the opportunity to develop and grow through the sport,” said Jamie Boreham, the Kodiaks' head coach and director of football operations. “Through supporting our own, we can create a unique football environment that cannot be matched anywhere else in the province."
The program is open to students in any school that does not have a football program. Players in freshman (Grades 8 and 9) and (Grades 10-12) varsity divisions and will have the opportunity to participate in practices drills, controlled scrimmages and games in a season that runs through the end of October.
Students who attend Shas Ti Kelly Road or College Heights Secondary Schools, which have teams that are competing in BC School Sports, are not eligible.
"Football starts in our backyard, which is where this dream of Kodiaks Football came from,” says Boreham. “The stronger we are locally, the stronger we can be nationally.”
Players can register through the Kodiaks website at a cost of $300 each.
